


She Has Become a Home

by prrincessyue



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Agni Kai (Avatar), Comfort, Coronation, F/M, Firelord Zuko, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Angst, Oneshot, Zutara, Zutara Week, Zutara Week 2018, and Iroh's mentioned, the whole gaang's in it for like a second
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-08 07:25:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15238362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prrincessyue/pseuds/prrincessyue
Summary: "She looked at that very wound and then turned her face towards the comet in the sky, and she didn't know if she'd want to kiss him tomorrow."...But in the hour before his Coronation, Zuko goes to Katara.(Written for Zutara Week 2018, day 1: First Kiss)





	She Has Become a Home

**Author's Note:**

> It's basically a prologue, the story, and then an epilogue.

Katara's hands were shaking. They needed to be still, but they were as frantic as the screams that came from behind her, and the form at her fingers twitched and groaned. She had to steady herself. To breathe. She forced the treamors out of her hands, though their movements still came too fast and desperate. 

Her heart was too loud in her ears. Her breath shook her entire body. All she could see around the tears in her eyes was Zuko's lightening-torn torso. 

She sucked in even breaths and fought for a better grip on the movement of her hands, even as she felt like she was crumbling under the weight of it all. She had to be able to do this. Had to be able to bring him back, couldn't let him slip away. She had to, had to, _had_ to...

She was beginning to hate the luminous water that encased her hands. For not being spirit water, not being strong and fast and simple and reassuring. Why could she not have that magic, definite cure with her now? Because with this, she had no way of knowing that it would help him. That it was enough. 

But it had to be, it _had_ to. _I can't lose him_ , Katara thought with a fierce determination, but then her breathing started to come too hard and fast again, and the Fire Nation Princess in the background had lost everything and Zuko's body convulsed in the most sickening way -

And then his eyes opened.

His lips began to form a small smile as Katara sighed and laughed and cried in a wave of relief, and half a second later she threw herself at him. She wrapped her arms around his hurting body and pulled herself into him. The two bodies pressed together, heads falling into the curve of eachother's necks. Brown curls and waves mixed with black strands, and Katara's wild heartbeat thudded againsted Zuko's barely beating heart. For a moment, the two of them lost themselves in the refuge that the others' skin and hair and clothes had to offer. 

Then they tore themselves out of it, and Katara immediately wanted to breathe him in again, to hold him safe and put her lips on his. But she caught herself just in time as she realized how high her emotions ran in her gratitude that he was _alive_ , he was really alright. So instead she looked in to the boys eyes as tears spilled out of her own, her love radiating off of her in waves. 

 

_Thankyou, Katara._

_I think i'm the one who should be thanking you._

 

As Appa flew them away a from the nightmare, away from the courtyard of screams and lighting and a writhing and broken Azula, Katara knew that she had made the right decision in not kissing Zuko. Every emotion, every beat of her heart was heightened like how Sozin's Comet powered firebenders. She couldn't known if it was true.

The two benders were leaning away from eachother, rested back on their hands atop Appa's saddle, and Zuko was already talking about all the possible outcomes of the day. How if Aang had defeated his Father, he'd have to re-hire the palace staff quickly and draft peace treaties and deal with all the prisons full of innocent, unfourtunate people. And how if his Father had succeeded in his plans, then... he didn't know how they'd be able to move forward, if they could find a way not to succumb to The Pheonix King's victory. His tone was agitated as he spoke through the trama he had just experienced and worried about the future. 

Katara wanted to lean over and quiet his strife. She wanted to bring him some sort of comfort with a hand in his hair and another over his wound, in the way she would kiss him slowly. But she looked at that very wound and then turned her face towards the comet in the sky, and she didn't know if she'd want to kiss him tomorrow. 

* * *

 

Zuko stood outside of Katara's room, staring at the strong wooden door while juggling a folded up paper between his hands and biting his lip nervously. He fumbled the paper more times than he'd liked to admit. He didn't know why exactly he was there. He'd gone over his Coronation speech thousands of times with his Uncle, and he knew how perfect it was down to the the very last punctuation mark. Every detail of it was so carefully crafted, every word delicately balanced atop the growing pile of words that made up his speech, as to begin the maintenance of a new peace. These words were too important to be left to last-minute critiques from teenagers. And yet, Zuko felt like he couldn't go on that stage and recite it without first getting Katara's thoughts. Which was a slight problem, seeing as his Coronation was in about an hour. So here he was, standing outside the room in the palace where Katara was staying during the few days between the Comet and his Coronation. 

Zuko contemplated the intricate carvings on the doorframe, ran his fingers over miniture swooping dragons and rising suns and spiralling flames. He'd never paid attention to these details of his home while growing up, but now he wondered if Katara found them just as beautiful as he did. He assumed that Sokka, Suki, Toph, and Aang had similar, if not completely identical, carvings on their doors. All the guest rooms were identical on the inside, and they were mostly in the same place. In fact, Aang's room was just a few feet to the right of Zuko right now, while Toph's was on his left. Sokka and Suki were sharing the room across the hall. It was the realization that any one of them could exit their room right now and see Zuko standing in front of Katara's door uselessly that finally urged him to move his hand from the carvings and knock on the door. 

"Zuko!" Katara appeared, answering the door almost immediately. "What are you doing here?" The tan-skinned girl was wearing her blue short-sleeved watertribe dress and pulling a comb through her long, thick hair. It occured to Zuko how strange it was how so much had changed on so many levels, but here Katara was looking exactly like she did the day Zuko had showed up at the Western Air Temple. It hadn't even been too long ago, and he'd literally fallen to his knees begging for the trust of what Sokka called _Team Avatar_. 

"Katara, hi." Zuko smiled at her.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready for your Coronation?" Katara asked, dismayed. 

"Yeah, well, um-" Zuko cleared his throat. "Can I come in?"

"Ofcourse," Katara replied, eventually returning his smile warmly and stepping out of the way. 

He walked in to the centre of the room and stopped there as Katara watched with her hand still on the doorknob. Even though Katara was technically the guest in his home, Zuko was a stranger to the room. He felt intrusive. The door clicked as Katara closed it, and she went over to sit on the couch by the window on the far wall, inviting Zuko to do the same over her shoulder. 

"That's okay," Zuko said, refraining from clearing his throat again. He didn't know when he'd become prone to that habit. "I actually came to get your thoughts on my speech, if that's okay?" He continued.

"Oh! Yeah, sounds good." Katara nodded. "But didn't you and Iroh already work so hard on it?" 

"We did, but I thought a third set of ears could help. And, I mean, you're supposed to be good with words, right? I'm a little nervous." Zuko admitted, his words an awkward rush.

Katara gaved him an amused look from where she sat on the couch, with lips turning up and eyebrows quirking. "Well, I _have_ been told i'm a powerful speaker," she grinned and playfully flipped her hair. "But Zuko, so are you! You have every right to be nervous, but I know you can do it." And then she gave him a reasurring smile and nodded as if that settled it. 

"But you're just saying that cause your my frie-!" Zuko started to cry, but stopped himself before he could finish that last word. After everything he'd been through with Katara and the rest of the group, he still wasn't quite sure where he stood with them. They'd accepted him as Aang's firebending teacher and even forgiven him for his... more _shameful_ part of the year, but that still didn't mean that the past had never happened. And besides, the fact was that they hadn't known him - personally, at least - for very long at all. 

" _Friend."_ Katara finished for Zuko _. "_ Zuko _,_ you and I are friends!" She went on. "How could you _ever_ doubt that?"

Zuko felt like he could trust Katara and every other member of the group, and he enjoyed being around them a lot too. He appreciated each of them, and would have loved to consider Katara, Toph, Sokka, Aang, and Suki to be his friends. He just didn't think that _they_ were the ones who had to earn _his_ friendship. 

But, if Katara really felt that way... "Okay," Zuko said, smiling lightly. "You're only saying that because you're my _friend_ , then." And it felt so good to say that he felt like he could float in the sweetness of it, and his heart did an unexpected flutter. 

Katara grinned. "Good. Now, let's hear this speech!" She declared. 

Zuko hurried to unfold the paper and smooth it between his hands. "Yes! Let's." 

He tried to imagine that there were thousands of people from all Four Nations standing before him and shot Katara a quick smile, more to calm himself than anything. Then he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and - entirely againsted his will - cleared his throat again.

Before starting he held his chin up to look past Katara and in to the imaginary crowd. And when his strong, steady voice formed his words, they meant something that no one- not even Azula or Zuko's Father- could ignore. He filled the room with cloud-like visions of a future with all Four Nations united in harmony, and a Firelord that wanted to help his people; a Firelord who cared for balance. When Zuko spoke, he couldn't help but be listened to. 

He'd always been good at public speaking, Katara was right. But this was the most important thing he'd ever have to say to a crowd. 

When he finished, his speech continuing to ring out in the silence, Katara echoed that silence. She stared at him with a slightly stunned expression on her face. Zuko was struck by how beautifully she wore it, how every line of her face knit together so perfectly. 

"So? How was it?" Zuko ran his hand through his hair, and it became a cruel reminder that his hair still wasn't done for his Coronation, which was probably in more like forty-five minutes now. 

"Zuko," Katara started, apparently feeling the need to get up off the couch and place her hand on his shoulder for this. "That was _amazing._ It was so impactful, I couldn't even think about improving it. I just let it take me, y'know?"

Zuko half-smiled, feeling like something was nagging at him. Katara lifted her hand from his shoulder and gently let it fall by her side. With the feeling of it's absence, he realized how much comfort the touch of her fingers brought him through his clothes; but it wasn't enough. Thoughts of all the things he had to do and all the things that could go wrong hadn't stopped wandering into his mind ever since Zuko's hand had been in his hair, and not even Katara's comfort could stop them.

Could his words today really make or break the hope of Peace that Aang had made, like his Uncle had said they could? Zuko wondered if he'd ever felt this anxious before. It was a ridiculous thing to wonder, because he certainly had and probably would again, but right now this speech felt so all-encompassing that it might kill him. 

"Thanks," Zuko muttered and moved to lower himself on to the couch. He sighed as he sat down. 

He felt bad. He didn't mean to come into Katara's room and just act all... _moody_. 

"What's wrong?" Katara asked, sitting down next to Zuko on the couch.

Zuko answered, "I just kind of started freaking out about my Coronation. I don't even know why i'm here. I mean, _Agni_ , I really need to be getting ready. I'm sorry." He got up to leave. 

"Wait!" Katara got up too. "I understand that you have to get ready, but... do you want to talk about it?" 

"This isn't your responsibility..." Zuko said. _You've already done enough,_  he added silently, just as aware of the spot under his heart that she'd healed as ever. But he'd made it clear that he had things to get off his chest, whether intentional on some level or not, and Katara had caught that. 

"Well I still care, because i'm your friend." Katara tugged Zuko back on to the couch by the hand. "What is it?"

"Are you sure?" Zuko turned to look her in the eye. She hadn't taken her hand off his.

"Yes," Katara said firmly. She turned to look Zuko in the eye too. "If you're comfortable with telling me and aren't terrified that you're gonna miss you're Coronation - which you definitely won't because someone should come get you." 

"Well, Uncle does know i'm here." Zuko relented. 

So, sitting in Katara's borrowed room like that with their bodies facing one another and their overlapping hands dangled between their laps, Zuko told her everything.

He told Katara things that he hadn't even realized were weighing on him, underlying fears and doubts. He didn't know how Fire Nation Citizens would react to a former banished prince on the throne, or how the rest of the world would react to someone who once pursued the Avatar. Because as much as his Uncle and, well, _friends_ , saw that he was worthy, he knew not everyone would see it that way. _He_ didn't even trust himself to be able to do good by his nation when he hadn't always done good in the past. And beside all that, he just didn't know if he was qualified to perform a Firelord's task, especially in the wake of a war. He didn't want to be responsible for making the peace Aang had made go to waste. And there was Azula, too. What was he supposed to do with her, could he help his little sister? _Should_ he? 

"Uncle and I were so focused on the speech, I guess I didn't even stop to consider all this." He concluded, only then realizing how long he had been speaking. He checked to make sure he wasn't boring or annoying Katara, but she was just looking at him in earnest. 

"Just getting all that off my chest makes me feel better already," Zuko added, and then Katara's hand was back on his shoulder. 

It was a distraction, and also just where it was supposed to be. 

"I didn't realize how much pressure this was putting you under," she said softly. "I mean, I knew it would be a lot of pressure, but I didn't know you felt _unworthy_." 

And she told him how she didn't know all the answers, but it was important for him to believe in himself, and realize much support he had from his friends and Uncle. They would help them figure it all out, from peace treaties to Azula. He would also have support among the Palace staff, including Advisors. He'd have more guidance than he knew.

She fed him reassurance with that calming voice of hers, and he let it all seep into him and make him feel lighter and lighter with each word. He was a good person, and the fact that he was worrying about that just proved it, because it showed he was always working to be good, she told him. And she reminded him that Aang wasn't solely responsible for ending the war, that Zuko helped too, so on the same leaf, _if_ the world fell out of balance again, it wouldn't be solely, or even mostly Zuko's fault. 

"And, really? Lot's of people will just be happy Ozai's not on the throne anymore. Hate to burst your bubble, but not everything's about you." She gave him a cheeky look for a moment, and Zuko realized that despite the joke, it was true. He was so worried about getting the public's approval, but he actually may have it before even showing his face, simply for not being his Father.

"And yes, you probably will get some pushback from people who supported your dad. But if they prefer a monster over someone who genuinely just wants to serve his people, a man with _honour,_ then that's on them, not you." Katara finished on a serious note. 

It was on them, but as the Firelord he'd have the responsibility of addressing it anyway... Katara had still lifted a million weights off his shoulders, though, and the ones she hadn't been able to get rid of, Zuko no longer bared alone. She'd given him an opportunity to share it all. 

" _Thankyou_ ," Zuko lifted his own hand and placed it on Katara's shoulder, carefully. "Thankyou. That means a lot, especially from you... You're the best person I know." He added, surprised that he had. 

"Oh, don't throw Iroh under the bus like that," Katara waved him off. 

"Okay," Zuko smiled. "But you do inspire me, to grow as a person."

Katara cocked her head. "Thankyou, Zuko." She conceded sincerely. She swept his hair from his eyes for a brief, absentminded moment, her fingers warm and alive againsted his cool forhead, before pulling her hand away quickly. She was a little embarrassed, Zuko noted, but she still levelled her gaze. "You inspire me too. I've never met someone who's grown as much as you." 

Zuko trailed his hand down her arm and gave her hand a soft squeeze before dropping it at his side again. As he looked in to the sapphire eyes of this waterbender from the South Pole, his smile only grew. 

"Zuko?" Katara asked. "Can I ask you a favour, now?"

Zuko nodded, unsure of what it could be. 

Her voice moved as she spoke, "Can I check on your lightening wound? I thought you came here because you were having trouble with it, and I haven't been able to stop worrying since." 

"Oh!" Zuko exclaimed. "I mean, it honestly feels ok, there's no need to worry, but -"

"Zuko, i'm gonna lose sleep over this if you don't just let me see for myself," Katara interrupted assertively. 

Zuko nodded, calm and understanding. "Ofcourse you can check on it." 

He shifted to face front on the couch to take off his shirt, and gingerly removed the bandaging wrapped around his chest.

Katara leaned over to study the injury. "It looks like it's coming along well." She acknowledged. "But I don't believe for a second that it feels ok," she continued pointedly, air-quoting Zuko's words. She'd ended up leaning her hand on his leg, and he found himself almost holding his breath. 

Zuko responded a little sheepishly. "Well it's still a little sore when I, uh, move," he admitted. 

"Just a second," Katara got up to grab her waterskin, which was hanging of the head of her bed. Zuko watched in awe as she bent the water out and encased her hands in it while walking back towards him. She knelt on the floor in front of him and firmly placed her hands on Zuko's stomach. The water was cooling on his tender skin. It immediately relieved the pain, enough that  Zuko let out a sigh. He stared at Katara's hands, illuminated in blue. 

"I was so scared that regular water wouldn't be enough, when I was healing you." Katara murmered, keeping her focus on her hands. "I don't know what i would have done if it wasn't." 

Zuko didn't know how to respond to that, didn't know how to tell her that he didn't know what _he_ would have done if he hadn't been fast enough to save her. So he just steadied his breathing and thanked her again. He would thank her again and again and again if she'd let him. Because he'd thought he was _gone_ , that his life had come to a real, full-stop, never to breathe again. He'd thought he'd lost so much, and Katara had given it all back to him. For that he was eternally grateful, but all he could give her was a quiet thankyou. Katara just shook her head, an equal amount of unsaid words remaining in her head as the tears that welled up in her eyes but didn't quite fall. 

"Maybe you should lie down to make this a little easier," She suggested, and he obliged. Her hands moved across him in steady lines and circles, untill she held them still in the centre of the wound for a moment, right where he'd absorbed the lighting. "Does this feel ok?" she asked gently. 

"Yes. Yes, thankyou." 

Zuko watched Katara's face as she continued to help him heal. Her wide eyes watched her hands carefully, and her mouth was cracked open enough that he could see her tongue pressing againsted the back of her teeth in concentration. A strand of her hair slipped over her shoulder, and it tickled his neck before falling onto the couch. She closed her eyes for a moment to took a deep breath; Zuko felt a warming of energy where her hands were held. Then she drew her hands off of the wound in a smooth, gradual motion and bent the water back into her water skin. 

She turned her back to Zuko to put the water skin back, and he took the opportunity to stand up and replace the bandage that had covered his soon-to-be scar. He was shocked to see that Katara's work had made the wound appear to fast-forward about two weeks in the healing process, but some of the pain still snuck it's way back in as he bent awkwardly to wrap the bandage around himself. It almost felt like a betrayal to let Katara on to his pain, but a small grunt escaped him. 

Katara turned around quickly. "Are you okay?" she cried. 

Zuko quickly assured her, "Yes! Don't worry, it feels much better... you're a powerful bender, Katara." He admired her as bender.

Katara gave a little smile, though her eyes still held worry. 

"It's just this bandage." He told her. 

"Oh, ofcourse! Here." 

"No, it's oka-" but when she came to his side and took the bandage from him, he couldn't deny how much he'd been struggling with it. 

He sighed. "I guess the only favour I could do for you today was let you help me." And he truly did feel dissapointed. He wanted to do so much for her, he realized.

"When you go on that stage and inspire people to believe in a peacefull future, that will be paying me back." Katara said. "...but you'll also pay me back later. Not that taking a bolt of lightning for me wasn't enough." She added lightly before Zuko could object.

He let himself chuckle, "Sounds good." 

They shared soft smiles for a moment, and suddenly Zuko wanted to tuck her hair behind her ear. He wanted that small act of intamicy, just to touch and _see_ her.

Katara fastened the bandage. She placed her hand flat on his chest and turned her face to look up at him.

"So it really feels better? It's going to be ok?"

"It's..." Zuko was distracted by her touch. "I mean _yes_. Please don't worry. You've helped me so much." He held her hand to his chest, wanting to keep it there. " _Thankyou_." 

Amber eyes looked into blue eyes, just a lean away. Zuko glanced down at her lips, soft and pink, and he realized that this was the perfect moment. With something blooming in his heart, and the girl it was blooming for looking up at him with something like expectation. He felt themselves gravitating towards eachother, tentative on both their parts. But their hesitation was just a moment too long, and Zuko flicked his eyes away as something in Katara seemed to deflate. Her hand dropped out from under Zuko's, who watched apprehensively, and it felt like a tradgedy to let her go. 

He stepped back. "I guess I should, you know, get ready for my Cornation, now."

"Right!" Katara replied choppily. "What are ya doin' just standing here, go go!" She tried to joke. 

Despite the regrettedly tragic moment Zuko had just experienced, that was cute of Katara. He smiled, "Yeah, I guess showing up for my Coronation with only fifteen minutes to spare won't leave the best first impression." 

Katara returned the smile, "More like ten minutes, but trust me. That speech will leave them forgetting anything they may have thought about you at first."

The awkwardness dissapaited into the air, and in that moment Zuko caught Katara's eye again. As the Firelord, he would have to be bold. And he didn't want to spend his time wondering what would have happened if he'd just kissed Katara, he wanted to spend his time being happy that he had. He didn't want to hesitate anymore. 

So he smiled and stepped forward again. His hand graced the Waterbenders cheeks as she perked up and let her eyes take only him in, and then he held her close and kissed her. 

They hesitated again, this time in the act of breaking away, and when they finally did they leaned their foreheads againsted eachother's. "Five minutes now," Katara whispered, her smiling lips so close to Zuko's that he could feel her breath on his. 

But the time didn't matter, because it was in that kiss, and the embrace that followed when Zuko understood. He hadn't gone to Katara's door for a speech that he already knew was perfect or even because of a sore chest. He'd gone there because of the comfort that Katara brough while also making his heartrate speed up, and the way her sassy remarks and meaningful looks and smooth skin made him feel. He was lost in the nerves of soon being launched into a whole new life - but he had gone to her. In that last hour, Katara was his home. 

* * *

 

The next time they kissed, there was no hesitation.

After the Coronation, which went just as perfectly as she knew it would, Katara hurried through the crowed. She was so proud of Zuko and Aang, so proud of what the whole team had accomplished - her and Sokka and Aang and Toph and Suki and Zuko. So she pushed through the crowed, looking for everyone and just Zuko at the same time.

She bumped into Toph first and pulled her into a hug, who pushed her off and instead gave her an affectionate punch on the arm. "We did that, Katara," she boasted. Then she bumped into Suki, and the two girls quickly embraced. When they stepped away, they interlaced each of their hands in front of them and excitedly chatted about the Cornation. "Didn't they do great up there?" Sokka found them like that, and the siblings too shared an excited hug, Sokka saying, "You can bet Dad's proud of us," though Katara didn't know if anyone could be more proud than he was.

The four of them spotted Aang and Zuko climbing off the stage, and they ran towards them, Katara and Suki apologizing to the members of the crowed that they barrelled through. "Aang!" Katara approached him first. "I'm so proud of you! And i'm liking the outfit." Her hug was so strong that she lifted the young Avatar's feet off the floor. 

And then she went to Zuko. 

"Told you you were gonna kill it," She smiled, leaning forward. 

Zuko started to reply, but Katara bound into his arms before he could and confidently planted a kiss on his lips. And then he placed another on hers, right in front of their friends who watched on in _pure_ shock. Mouths hung open and eyes widened, and Sokka let out some kind of disgusted shriek while Toph laughed. Zuko and Katara, paces away, just laughed with her and kept kissing, their eyes never leaving the other's. That second kiss was not riddled with hesitation, and neither was the one after that or after that or after that, or any of their many kisses that were to come.

_The End._

**Author's Note:**

> Thankyou for reading!


End file.
